industry Mary Portas Lessons to learn from the


High-street guru Mary Portas is determined to breathe new life into the high street with plans for sports retailers to be featured in her new Channel 4 series. So can the sport industry benefi t from her expertise?


fter months of research for her government


review on the state of the UK high street, Mary Portas is determined to breath fresh life back into our local shopping areas. In her new series, Mary will work with small independent shops to implement some of her ideas. Shop by shop, she is keen to transform the high street into a centre for socialising and delivering a service that gives locals reasons to shop with independents. Among the retailers Mary is keen to feature are sports independents.


of directly challenging the multi-nationals, retailers need to seek alternative methods to try and appeal to consumers.


Queen of Shops? A


Mary Portas


“The big corporations can be very hard to compete with but independents need to think of new and fresh ways of getting people back into their shops. Retailers make common errors such as not knowing their market or becoming out of touch with what local customers want,” says McCullough.


“Local shops can be such an important part of the community and that’s why we would like to feature an independent sports retailer as part of the series,” says Mary Queen of Shops Producer Phil McCullough. “Although independent sports retailers are facing stiff competition from big high street companies, there are gaps in the market where local shops can thrive.”


This is important for sports retailers to bear in mind. It is impossible for independents to directly compete with the likes of JD Sports and JJB in many areas such as pricing points and advertising. Instead


06 | SGB-SPORTS.COM


The key to understanding your market is very important. The days of a general sports independent is largely over thanks to the large multiples. Retailers need to become specialists in their market. Finding a niche service that many others don’t off er could be important. This could be specialist product knowledge, an equipment repairs facility or a ‘try before you buy’ service. Getting that repeat customer trade is vital.


There are also some fundamental errors that many retailers are continuing to make. Joining a buying group such as STAG or Intersport is important to enable that access to deals from suppliers and also a chance to thrash out any grievances


that you may have. Being part of a buying group also off ers that opportunity to chat to like-minded souls and perhaps pick up a few new ideas. It is the harsh reality that retailers are treated with greater respect under a buying group umbrella.


Embracing technology may also be the key to success. Social media as a forum to promote your business could be used as an important tool to inform customers of any latest off ers or promotions that you are currently running. The service is free and the only thing you are investing in is time.


Many retailers still refuse to trade online. Society is becoming a faster paced environment so customers need to have that option of ordering at a click of a button. If retailers don’t, that temptation to shop with a well-known retailer may be greater.


be very hard to compete with but independents need to


The big corporations can


think of new and fresh ways of getting people back into their shops. Retailers make common errors such as not knowing their market or becoming out of touch with what local customers want


Although the past few years have undoubtedly been tough, it is perhaps time for this industry to fi ght back. The Mary Portas series may be a generalised view of the UK high street. However the programme still may prove to be an informative tool for ways of independents to booster the coff ers.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40